Maria Andonova from “100 Awake” on BNT, talks with the founder of CogZum how a precise expiry date tracking system can help us prevent food waste.
Maria Andonova: Hello, You’re watching 100% Awake, and now we continue with our next app today, which has been developed by Ivo Dimitrov. An app that helps us manage the food in our fridge. This sounds very enticing! I must admit, I have a pressing need for such a device. How does it work?
I.D.: The application provides us with a catalogue list of all foods we want to monitor at home, not only in the fridge but also stuff we keep in the pantry. This smart catalogue remembers the expiry date of every item you have purchased. When the expiry date approaches, you receive a push notification – a reminder that a specific item expiry date is approaching, so you can include into your meal plan.
M.A.: This means that the app also helps us in our shopping?
I.D.: Exactly, the first main functionality of the app is the digital shopping list.
M.A.: We see it on the screen right now.
I.D.: It’s faster to complete than the time needed to write it out. Of course, that is if you still keep a pen and paper handy. With this list, you are super-fast and efficient in the supermarket. It minimizes impulse purchases. Â Also, once in the shop, you can always check if you already have a certain product at home. This way you avoid shopping from scratch the ingredients for an entire meal that you planning to cook and buy just the missing things. It’s a prevention against overstocking. Nowadays, we all have big fridges. We feel obliged to fill them up. As a result, food is forgotten and left to perish. In the end, we just decide it is no longer good for eating.
M.A.: You should see my fridge, every weekend I try to sort things out. I manage, but only for a couple of days. During the week things get out of control again. I think I really need to start using this up immediately.
M.A.: Just for our colleague, Nayo Titzin, who is working with us on this show. He wants us to repeat the name of the ticket app we previously discussed.
Konstantin Nikolov: It’s Tickey – Tickey App, from “ticket” and “key”. This is the app you can use to travel effortlessly in public transport purchasing tickets with one click of your smartphone.
M.A.: But now we are discussing another app. I can imagine that it can help everyone in managing their fridge better! Ivo, can you tell us some tips you use to restore order your own fridge?
I.D.: Sure, the first one is to sort your catalogue by items that will expire first on top. The second tip is that by press on an item a coloured timeline appears showing when exactly when the food was bought and how many more days it still has to go or whether the item is passed its expiry date, and if so, by how many days. This way we can intelligently decide if the product is passed its consumption phase and whether it needs to be binned.
M.A.: Tell me, how much time do I have to spend with the app in order to list every product that I have at home, with the respective expiry date, so the app can update me when the item is due?
I.D.: Last week we launched a new update of the app. (By the way, we also have a new name, we are now called CozZo. We have a double “Z” in the name because our mission is zero food waste, zero shopping troubles. These are our core value propositions to the consumer)
M.A.: Is the app free?     Â
I.D.: Yes, everything currently available is free. if you have an iPhone – 5 or a newer version
M.A.: Please don’t mention brands just the names of the free products. People are good at finding the info they need for themselves. What we offer them here valuable info. You were saying, you have a new product update?
I.D.: Yes, the new version comes under the name of CozZo, our new brand. And the new update comes with a very nice intro wizard with flashcards. You just swipe right and left. Within less than a minute you can add the things you already have at home to the catalogue and the things you don’t, but wish to buy the next time, to your shopping list. From here on the process is automated. We use an artificial intelligence algorithm in our app. So, automatically, we check the pantry for you. So this onboarding is super-fast and easy!
M.A.: That’s good, because otherwise, people may give up, just because they need to enter a lot of data. Even if they have to spend 2 minutes maintaining the app, it can again be too long for them – so now it’s fast and easy?
I.D.: One of the innovations we have introduced is that when you shop, the item is automatically moved from the “to buy” list to the “at home” list and vice versa. Â When a product runs out, and the system has already learned that this is an important product for you, it automatically moves it to the “to buy” list. It gets even more interesting when there are several household members taking part in the process because they can share their “to buy” lists and “at home” lists, as well as receive instant messages from one another.
M.A.: Thank you very much, you were extremely helpful. You are watching “100% Awake”.
Watch the whole video here or watch a video how a foodie who has minimized her food waste at home by 75% by using the CozZo app.
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